A spectrograph was designed and constructed to provide a new capability for measuring spectrum of extended emission line sources, but it has the versatility to work well on stellar bright moving sources for example emission nebulae and comets.
The spectrograph uses high-speed lens system. It projects the incoming wide field light through a horizontal moving slit assembly onto a reflective grating based on a rotary platform that is synchronised with the slit mechanism. The slit width is adjustable, as is the case in conventional spectrographs.
An important part of the design is the lateral movement of the entire slit assembly (in addition to the movement of the slit itself), so that the narrow beam passing through the slit will reflect off different parts of the diffraction grating and be received by the camera in a scanning mode. As a result, this single device can cover a wide field of view across the range of spectra in a short duration of time. In fact it can obtain a spectrum of sky 3 x 3 degrees in a short timescale depending on the quantum efficiency and format size of the CCD detector.
A new membrane mirror is capable of imaging in the infrared and visible for astronomical imaging. The development of the membrane mirror has the order-of-magnitude aperture size increase or weight reduction for large aperture ground based telescopes.
The membrane mirror is reproducible at a fraction of the time and cost as compared to glass equivalent size. It also requires a considerable mass and cost reduction of the telescope mount as compared to conventional size equivalent mounts.
The membrane mirror has overcome the problems of near edge distortion when stretched that has been a limiting factor until now. Further more, the surface problem of having an oblate spheroid has been overcome now by deepening the centre thereby creating a parabola through active central distortion of the figure.
Because there is no active system to produce pattern surface distortion, the ratio of thickness and size has resulted in a stable surface with diffraction limited results in the infrared. Research is continuing on to develop an upgradeable mirror with visible range diffraction limited results.
A unique interesting feature of the mirror for astronomy is optional variable focal or N focal lengths. Because it is used as a direct imager focussing can also be accomplished through precision vacuum control. This unique adaptability of the mirror creates multiple telescope applications.
Another interesting feature is the option of using the mirror as an off axis system in a telescope. An example of this configuration is in a Gregorian system.
A scanning spectrograph was designed and constructed to provide a new capability for measuring spectra of spatial and temporal recurring atmospheric luminous phenomena. This phenomena may be a new form of natural energy, which exists on several areas of the Earth. Because of the phenomena is often a moving target, existing spectographs are unable to record a spectrum. The instrument is best suited for measuring extended emission line sources, but it is also suitable for work on bright stellar objects, moving sources such as meteors and comets, and conventional indoor industrial applications where a wide field of view and/or a moving target is involved. The challenge of tracking the target is carried out by all-sky cameras. They are used to obtain the target coordinates, which triggers the tracking spectrograph through a multiplexer. The scanning spectrograph uses a high-speed lens system. It projects the incoming wide field light through a horizontal moving slit assembly onto a reflective grating based on a rotary platform that is synchronized with the slit mechanism. The slit width is adjustable, as is the case in conventional spectrographs. An important part of the design is the lateral movement of the entire slit assembly, so that the narrow beam passing through the slit will reflect off different parts of the diffraction grating and be received by the video camera in a scanning mode. As a result, this single device will cover a wide field of view across the range of spectra in a short duration of time. In fact it can obtain a spectrum of 3 × 3 degrees of sky in one second.
Creative partnerships have the potential to accelerate developments for innovative products. A clear understanding between creative partners in optotechnologies from the generating of ideas to developing the technology can produce successful results. This senario is being applied by a creative partnership with an arrangement between three companies: one in Ireland, one in Scotland and the other in the USA. This has resulted in the production of beta and proof-of-concept models for a range of 4D volumetric imaging systems suitable for a wide range of applications developed over a short period of time.
There are shortcomings in existing 3D visualization technology. These may include poor image quality, significant computer processing requirements, and/or awkward viewing aids. These problems have been overcome with a 4D volumetric imaging system called Vis4D(TM) system. This system produces an image having apparent solidity suspended in space in front of the viewer. It is capable of displaying images for a wide range of general and specialized applications.
Numerous researchers have suggested the importance of including a near-Earth search for interstellar probes in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. This paper documents some of the scientific work that has already been undertaken in this field and my own intended contributions. The research under discussion includes both the theoretical and the practical.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.